Cry For Your Own Reasons
by DarknessUnites
Summary: A fun little fanfic set in the world of naruto. of course all characters are OC's but still I hope you enjoy this :D


There was a sudden motion, and Kaidou burst from hiding in a bushel. He dashed through the wooded area, jumping from tree to tree, panting. Behind him, a nameless ninja pursued him, and it didn't look like he was going to slow down any time soon. Kaidou saw a hanging branch, and took the opportunity to grab it, and swing, reversing his direction, hoping to kick his pursuer and disable him. With not a little skill, the ninja calmly blocked the kick with one hand, and struck Kaidou hard in the stomach, twice. Kaidou swore violently, coughing up blood. The other ninja smiled cruelly, taking out a Kunai, and twirling it around his finger viciously. Kaidou swore again, backing up against a tree, looking for any means of escape. Suddenly, the ninja stiffened, although no obvious force had stopped his movement. Sweat started to trickle down from his brow, and soon he was sweating furiously. Kaidou relaxed and rolled his eyes.

'Why do I always have to save your ass?' A sarcastic voice, and then a person, materialised in front of Kaidou. A young man, with wickedly purple hair, in a spiked style, and a ring through his lip, dressed in a black cloak, hands still in a seal position.

'Maybe because you're the reason i'm always in these situations Tchiko?' Kaidou grinned through bloodied teeth back at Tchiko. A young ninja himself, he carried with him an air of laziness, yet dedication. It was antithesis no one had ever really been able to place on the ninja, only to question. He had short, straight jet black hair, a fringe covering one eye. Tall and athletic, he caught the eye of all the young kunoichi. Tchiko grinned back.

'Hey, this time it really wasn't my fault!' Kaidou mouthed the words as Tchiko spoke them and rolled his eyes again.

'You know if you bought me a bowl of ramen for every time you said that, I could open my own store.'

'Well that's just plain rude Kai.' The foreign ninja stirred slightly, Tchiko turning at the sound. 'Speaking of our mystery guest, have you recovered enough chakra to start the investigation?' Kaidou flexed his hands.

'Sure, here we go.' Kaidou made a series of complicated hand seals. '_Molten Lava: Inferno Imprisonment!_' Flames shot out from Kaidou's hands, and surrounded the ninja, forming a prison of heat. Kaidou looked to Tchiko and shook his head.

'We always have to do this the hard way. For once, why couldn't a reconnaissance mission end up with us obtaining the information without having to sprint around being chased by enemy ninja, until we get to the point we neutralise one and interrogate him. Geez.' Tchiko laughed.

'You know you love the way we do it really. I know I do. But maybe that's just because seeing you getting chased around always makes my day.' Kaidou kicked playfully at Tchiko.

'Yeah, well, you try running around and then see how it works.' Tchiko grinned again.

'I think I'll leave that one up to you, partner. I never was the athletic type' Kaidou grunted.

'Don't I know it? Right, time to start the interrogation.'

*

'Finally, from the information we obtained, we can deduce is that Otogakure isn't planning an immediate offensive on our village, but personally I would still increase the patrol numbers.' Kaidou concluded his report to his superiors, and bowed respectfully.

'Another mission completed successfully, good job Kaidou'. The raspy voice of the Sunagakure Special Operations, or SSO, praised Kaidou yet again. 'Tell me, where is that partner of yours?'

'He's gone to talk to his family, sir. Would you like me to get him?'

'No, no, I know how the Nasaki family are. I don't need the advisor to our Kazekage raining down on our parade. That will be all.'

'Yes, sir.' Kaidou bowed again and walked out of the SSO headquarters. He walked back to his apartment, and dropped onto his bed, looking at a picture of a young Konoha kunoichi sitting on his window sill, smiling to himself.

Meanwhile, at the Nasaki household, Tchiko was busily engaged in a game of cards with his younger brother, Shuuji. He was peering intently at the cards, his brilliant mind deducing the probability of success.

'Bring another card from your sleeve into your hand and you'll regret it' Tchiko warned his brother, even though his eyes seemed to never leave the cards. Shuuji groaned.

'Rumbled every time! Why can't we do something awesome, like, you could teach me your genjutsu?' Tchiko put his cards down in exasperation.

'How many times do I have to tell you? I will not teach you anything until you are at least 17, the age I was when I started to develop these techniques!' Shuuji moaned again.

'Brother, why not? I'm14 and a half, I can look after myself, and i'm almost as clever as you are.'

'Shuuji, that's not the point. The genjutsu I use are not for playing with, trapping the cat, teasing other boys, and other meaningless things I imagine you have planned for them. They are arts, designed to neutralise opponents.'

'Aww, you're no fun sometimes Tchiko'

'Well I suppose 'sometimes' is and improvement to 'always'' Tchiko smiled at Shuuji. Suddenly, there was a roar, and an unshaven man clutching a sake bottle burst in to the room where Tchiko and Shuuji were. His eyes were unfocussed, and he was screaming at the top of his impressively loud voice.

'Tchiko! You're back! Come here and give your old man a hug!' Tchiko's eyes narrowed.

'Shuuji, leave the room through the back. Leave this to me.' Wordlessly, as was so often the case in this situation, Shuuji left. Tchiko turned to face their father.

'Father, you are drunk. You need to go and lie down, and I need to take that sake bottle out of your hands.'

'Nonsense boy! I'm perfectly fine as I am. Not drunk at all! Have at you!' With that his father threw the sake bottle at Tchiko and ran at him. Tchiko rolled his eyes, and almost nonchalantly formed the hand seals required, and then threw his hands forward palms up.

'_Falling Petal: Blooming Poison! _' He stopped his father mid-stride, and walked over to him. 'Every time you walk in drunk, you threaten me. Be glad Shuuji isn't here to see me having to neutralise my own father with my genjutsu! You need help. This is getting far past the acceptable.' With that he turned to walk off, but whirled around and outstretched one hand, fury in his eyes. '_Falling Petal: Dancing Wind!' _His father shrieked once, then collapsed, as Tchiko released the genjutsu and stormed out of the Nasaki mansion. Shuuji watched him leave from an upstairs window, fear clear in his eyes.

*

Kaidou heard his door open, and smiled. 'Yo Tchiko, family problems again?' Tchiko threw himself onto a chair and groaned openly.

'You have no idea Kai. That stupid man will drive me insane one day, and I have to tell Shuuji that I won't teach him my damn genjutsu. I don't see why he won't just learn something like Taijutsu with the rest of the kids.'

Kaidou got up at that, and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. 'You mean like you did when you were that age?' Tchiko grimaced. 'That's not the point Kaidou, and you know it.' Kaidou sat on the edge of his bed and sighed. 'The kid's exactly like you were at that age and you know it. Don't be too harsh on him.' He paused, and thought long and hard. 'We need to get you a girl.' Tchiko groaned. 'Kai, we've been over this a thousand times. I'm perfectly fine as I am.'

'And yet whenever Fara comes to visit you quietly make an exit?'

'I'm giving you some peace! It's called being polite...not that you'd know anything about that.'

'Even when we invite you to come along and watch a movie with us?'

'Kai, get serious. Who wants to be a third wheel and go with a couple to a movie?'

'What about when Fara says she'll bring a friend?'

'Oh my god, Kai. Give it a rest already!'

'Hah! He cannot think of a reason. You know i'm right Tchiko, you're just shy.' Kaidou grinned and gave Tchiko a friendly punch on the arm. Tchiko rolled his eyes at Kaidou.

'Shut up already. Anyways, since I really don't want to return back to my house, I was thinking of taking a trip to Konoha. Wanna visit?' Kaidou shook his head. 'You know i'm too lazy to go anywhere except when I really have to. Fara complains about it all the time but oh well' he shrugged 'what can you do?' Tchiko laughed.

'She's way too good for you; I don't know what she sees in you...' Kaidou grinned.

'It's obviously my natural masculine charm' Tchiko snorted and then burst out laughing. Kaidou looked mock-offended. 'It's not _that_ unbelievable you know...' Tchiko just waved his hand at Kaidou as he kept on laughing. Kaidou got up and stretched. 'Well, if you aren't going back home, what say we hit the ramen bar?'

'Sure thing, besides, all that laughing has worked up an appetite.'

'For that, you're paying.'

_-Authors Note- You see, here I could put a long paragraph about the conversation Kai and Tchiko have while at the ramen bar, but let's face it, not that many people are that interested in 2 people sitting around and eating food. Well. You might be, but i'm not. So unlucky. Yes, I am as lazy as Kai. Why do you think he's like that? :P Anyway. Back to the story. Enjoy. __ -End Note-_

Tchiko quietly closed the door and walked through the deserted city that was Sunagakure at night. He couldn't sleep; there were too many thoughts in his head. And besides, Kaidou snored so loudly when you woke up you thought you were under attack. He rolled his eyes at that thought and a small smile crept onto his face. He looked up at the stars and sighed. He may have a big house and lots of money, but he would have done anything to be like Kaidou – carefree, living the life he wanted to without any worries of major repercussions. It helped that he was a damn fine ninja too, one of the best operatives the SSO had ever had. Tchiko smiled. He guessed that he wasn't so bad either. There was a movement in the shadows to his right.

'Something troubling you?' Tchiko jumped and whirled around, arms out, already going through the hand seals of his genjutsu. 'Easy there, if I wanted to hurt you, you think I would have spoken?' A young woman stepped out, wearing a white long-sleeved top, a black cape, with one of the collars of the shirt covering the left side of her face up to her mouth. She had what many thought of as a gorgeous face, with full lips, and eyes that had a lot of warmth. Silky black hair covered the rest of the left side of her face. Tchiko looked at her.

'Who are you? You don't have a Sunagakure headband.'

'Well observed, young man. No, I claim affiliation to no village. I'm here to see you.'

'Why are you here to see me?' Tchiko didn't let his guard down, noting in his mind all the possible escape routes.

'I'm very interested in you, young ninja. Graduating from the Suna academy at such a young age, obtaining Chunin at 15, and obtaining Jounin at 17, as well as managing to develop your own jutsu during that time too.'

Tchiko stiffened. 'How do you know all that about me?' The woman smiled.

'I'll be straight with you. My name is Chinatsu. I work for a secret group formed from all 5 villages. Hence, I cannot claim affiliation to any one city. Our organisation was formed to combat the terrorist threats that have threatened the 5 Shinobi Nations. It has a name, but I will not confer that information to you as yet.'

'Why, cause it stinks?' Tchiko grinned, and found he liked this woman instantly. But, he reasoned, that's probably why she was sent, because she was very attractive. In his mind he groaned. Chinatsu smiled back with a beautiful smile.

'You have a wonderful sense of humour. But no. Only the members know its name.'

'I am now going to use my rather impressive intellect to deduce that you want me to join this little group of yours.'

'Not just you. You and your partner.' Tchiko raised his eyebrow at Chinatsu.

'If you've done as much research on him as you have on me, you'll know he'll never go for it. He could never leave Suna, or the SSO. Plus, he's too damn lazy to think about anything else.' Chinatsu smiled.

'All I'm offering is one visit to our headquarters. You'll see what we do, and how we work. If you don't like what you see, you can return to Suna with no questions asked. If you do like what you see, then you can go through the recruitment process.' Tchiko pondered the offer.

'I'll have to talk to Kaidou first. I want him with me, or its no deal.'

'I wouldn't have expected anything else. Talk it over with him, and if you want to have a look around, then I'll be staying here for 3 days. So you have 3 days. If I don't see you by then, then I will assume that you do not want to meet, and I will leave discreetly. It's up to you.' With that Chinatsu dissolved into the shadows, and it was as if Tchiko was talking to himself.

*

Kaidou woke up to the curtains being flung open, and sunlight flooding his room. 'Aargh! My eyes! Tchiko you're so sadistic in the morning!' He slowly opened his eyes, shading them with one hand, to see Tchiko standing over him, looking puzzled. 'Can't say you look particularly happy this morning. What happened?' Tchiko told him of the meeting of the previous night.

'...And what do you want to do?' By the time Tchiko had finished the story, Kaidou had gotten dressed, and was standing by the sink, splashing water on his face and styling his hair.

'I don't know Kai. Part of me really wants to have a look around, but part of me is really nervous about this.'

'Tchiko, part of you is always nervous about going to see your own father, so let's rule that out of the equation for today.'

'You ass. Fine. So I want to go and have a look. Do you?'

'Hmm...Do you know, I think I actually do for once?' Kaidou grinned. 'Let's do it.' Tchiko pretended to faint and fell on Kaidou's bed.

'There must be something wrong. Kaidou actually wants to _go_ somewhere. You need to get yourself checked.' Kaidou grunted and pushed Tchiko onto the floor.

'Do you want to go or not?'

'Haha, fine fine. Let's do this partner.'

They met up with Chinatsu later that day, Kaidou looking bored of having to walk to see her, and Tchiko looking nervous yet enthusiastic. Kaidou looked Chinatsu up and down once, and then nodded to her.

'You must be Chinatsu-' he paused, and then grinned wickedly and looked at Tchiko. 'You're just as beautiful as he said you were.' Tchiko blushed and averted his eyes. Chinatsu laughed a gentle, tinkling laugh.

'Aww, well isn't he just the romantic?' Tchiko blushed furiously as Kaidou put his hands into his pockets and smiled.

'Don't I know it? So, on to more important business. Where is this hideout of yours?'

'Well I can't actually let you know where it is unless you decide to join us. So I'm going to have to blindfold you. I hate to be so coarse but rules are rules.'

'That's ok, but are you sure you can take us on your own?' Chinatsu smiled knowingly.

'I can manage.' Kaidou looked at her uncertainly.

'Well if you say so...' At that, Chinatsu tied blindfolds around both Kaidou and Tchiko. They suddenly felt a lurching sensation in their stomachs, and then the wind was hitting their faces. Tchiko stirred and spoke.

'I believe we are currently in the air. Without sight. This isn't the most delightful of circumstances I've ever experienced.'

'Relax, Tchiko, you're perfectly safe. And it's very quick travel. I see our hideout now.' They felt the lurching sensation again as they touched the ground, and their blindfolds were removed. Kaidou staggered around.

'That's twice in one day I've had light shone in my eyes after being used to darkness.' He glared at Tchiko. 'And it should have only been the first time.' Tchiko grinned back.

'How else did you expect me to get your lazy ass out of bed?' Kaidou shrugged.

'Ramen?' Chinatsu rolled her eyes and clapped her hands together. For a small girl she certainly made a lot of noise. Kaidou and Tchiko turned to her immediately.

'Right. Now that you've finished your little lover's quarrel, welcome to our headquarters.' She gestured, and they looked to where she pointed. They were standing on a plain, covered in grass, with tall, tall trees behind them. In front of them, right in the middle of the plain, was a huge structure. There were too large towers flanking what looked like a square box in appearance, except this square box had two huge front doors. The building was coloured a dim red, and the doors a pale green. Kaidou let out a whistle of approval, and Tchiko looked around. What looked like a plain actually turned out to be a ring of grass, marked out by the trees of the forest.

'So you hid this place in a forest?' Chinatsu smiled.

'Not exactly. Touch one of the trees.' Kaidou walked over and touched a tree, and then drew back, confused, as his hand went through the tree. 'As you can see, this forest does not exist really. It's only ever been a few trees, and then we used an elaborate genjutsu to multiply the trees over a thousand times, creating the look of a full forest.' Tchiko turned, puzzled.

'That's impossible. No way could someone hold a genjutsu that wide.'

'Actually, it isn't just one person. There are a team of genjutsu specialists who monitor the genjutsu field, making sure it is up at all times.'

Tchiko was awed. 'Those guys must put me to shame.'

Chinatsu giggled. 'I'll introduce them to you at some point during your tour.' Tchiko nodded his thanks, but then he seemed to remember something.

'By the way, how did we get here?' Chinatsu smiled her wonderful smile.

' I suppose I can show you that.' She made a quick motion of hand seals and placed her hand upon the ground. '_Summoning Technique: Tsubasa Hiko!'_ There was a puff of smoke, and a giant hawk appeared. Chinatsu smiled and stroked the hawk's wing.

'Everyone, meet Tsubasa. He's my best friend, and he carried you over here.' Tchiko went over to Tsubasa and touched his talon in a sort of greeting.

'Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tsubasa.' Kaidou just nodded. Tsubasa remained silent.

'Well now you know how we got here, shall we continue inside?' Tchiko nodded.

'Yes, I think that would be best.' Chinatsu dismissed Tsubasa, and led them into the mysterious headquarters...

*

The facility was huge. That was the first thought that went through Kaidou's mind. It was the second thought for Tchiko, the first concentrating on Chinatsu's shapely behind. As they entered through the huge double doors which, Kaidou noticed, required a password. He turned to Chinatsu.

'Security on this place is pretty damn tight.'

'I know. If word of our existence was to get out to the world, there would be chaos. Demands to save this land and rid the people of that criminal. It would be bedlam. We only deal with threats normal ninja cannot. So as you can imagine, we do not take out that many targets. It requires an immense amount of energy to neutralise one of our opponents. So if we kept getting requests for petty missions, the world would be inhabited by criminals far worse than those we were requested to kill.' Kaidou shivered.

'They must be some nasty bastards.' Chinatsu smiled softly.

'You have no idea. If you would follow me please.'

The double doors led into a wide, domed entrance hall. For a secret headquarters, it wasn't very out of the ordinary. A secretary sat at a large desk, and there were various exits to the left and the right. Yet everything seemed to be larger than it should be. The secretary was set at a desk large enough for half a dozen men, the ceiling was high enough for about 6 Kaidou's to stand on each other shoulders. Tchiko felt so insignificant in this grandiose building.

'I know it's impressive, but I didn't bring you here to sightsee. Please keep up.' Chinatsu turned into a corridor and briskly walked down. Tchiko was startled out of his reverie and quickly ran to catch up with Kaidou and Chinatsu.

'Yah know, you say you deal with all these 'high profile' criminals, but how come I ain't ever heard of any of these criminals you've killed?'

'You will have done, but we never take the credit. Better to keep us a secret to the outside world. Have you heard of tale of the first Kazekage's defeat of the evil that threatened to wipe out Sunagakure?'

'Yes, we know it well. It is a story that is passed down from generation to generation.' replied Tchiko.

'Well actually the first Kazekage was asleep at the time. We defeated the rogue ninja, and let the Kazekage take the credit so that we would remain hidden. Do not worry. We do not hold a grudge for never being in the spotlight; it is what makes us the most effective.' Kaidou folded his arms. 'You do not believe us do you?'

'It's not that I don't believe you. I just find it hard to accept.'

'I understand. Well we are at the first thing I want to show you. Here is the training ground.'

They took another left turn, and appeared in a huge expanse. There were ninja running around a track, other ninja participating in armed and unarmed combat under the supervision of green-jacketed officials. In another corner, ninja were practising their ninjutsu, pillars of flame, waves of water, and clouds of wind burnt, hit and buffeted people-sized targets. Others sat in quiet meditation.

'We give all our members a full workout every day. That includes physical and mental training, plus training in all jutsu, with your speciality jutsu being given the most time to work on.' Kaidou looked on.

'How many kekkei genkai specialists do you have here?'

'More than you would think. But we only have a few of each bloodline jutsu user. Two or three at maximum.' Chinatsu turned and smiled at Kaidou. 'And no Byakugan user....yet.' There was a cry from the centre of the field, at the combat area, as a ninja felled his opponent and stood up victorious.

'Hmph.' Kaidou wasn't impressed. 'Show off.'

Chinatsu smiled again. 'Why don't you go over there and teach him a lesson if you think you can do better.'

'Kaidou, don't even thi-' Tchiko moved to stop Kaidou only to be brushed aside as he moved to the middle of the arena.

'Fine, let's do this.' Tchiko groaned and turned to Chinatsu.

'He'd better not get hurt. You knew that he'd rise to that. What is your aim here?'

'To show him that we are not to be underestimated.' Kaidou stepped into the combat ring. The adjudicator looked over to Chinatsu, who simply nodded her approval.

'So, the visitor would like to try and beat one of us?' Kaidou nodded, and pointed at the ninja who had cheered as he had felled the opponent earlier.

'I want to fight him.' A hushed silence fell over the on-looking ninja, and the adjudicator grinned, before breaking out in laughter. 'Well i'm not going to stop you! Kazuya, will you accept the challenge?' The ninja in question was a tall, wide, strong ninja, rippling with muscle, and had an air of arrogance as he stepped back into the circle.

'Of course. This punk won't slow me down.' Kaidou stretched a little, and then smiled at him. The adjudicator spoke. 'Ok. The rules are, any jutsu are allowed, and this is NOT a fight to the death, submission or knock out only! Fight!'

'Bring it.' Kaidou smirked at Kazuya. Kazuya smiled, and then suddenly made a motion. Within half a second he had slammed his knee into Kaidou's stomach. Kaidou's eyes widened and he fell down on one knee, coughing blood. Tchiko looked on and groaned, head in his hands. Kazuya jumped from foot to foot, laughing openly at Kaidou. 'That all you got punk?' Kaidou grimaced and stood up shakily. He formed the hand seals and held out his hands. '_Molten Flame: Crimson Wings Release!'_ His red chakra leaked out of his back ,and formed two crimson jets of chakra on his back. He smiled. 'Now let's do this.' He moved, the chakra jets increasing his movement twenty fold, and struck Kazuya in the chest. Kazuya looked surprised, but didn't move from his position. 'You know, that actually tickled! _Fist of the Boar: Dragon Style!'_ He made a few hand seals, and then slammed his fist into the ground. Kaidou moved around to escape the vibrations that the ground made, to ensure he stayed on balance. As he sped away, a giant rock face emerged from the ground! Kaidou screeched to a halt, but the ground he was standing on suddenly flicked up, and he was sent flying into the huge wall of rock. He hit the rock with a crunch, and fell back to the ground, blood flowing from his nose. Kazuya walked over.

'You see, even though I look like I train in Taijutsu, i'm actually a big ninjutsu user too.' He slapped Kaidou on the cheek gently. 'Never underestimate your opponents. Or bad shit'll happen.' He took one step in the opposite direction, then turned around, used one hand to fling Kaidou into the air, and formed hand seals as he was in the air. '_Fist of the Boar: Crane Style!'_ His hand became a fist of chakra, and he slammed it into Kaidou as he fell back to punching height, and Kaidou went flying through the wall of rock, and out of the combat area. Kazuya watched him go. 'Punk.' Kaidou hit the edge of the training ground, and blacked out.

*

Kaidou slowly opened his eyes and blinked. Or at least he tried to. His right eye was crusted up with blood. He quickly identified the source from the electrifying pain that was hammering at his brain on the right side of his head. He groaned, and opened his left eye. He was in a room that was entirely white, and devoid of anything except the bed and a table with some water and a glass on. He moved his legs and arms to check nothing was broken. Everything seemed fine, other than his pride which was extremely sore after that beating. He tried to get up out of bed but couldn't – he was too sore to move. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but all that he managed to speak was a croaky, low noise. He lay back down in the bed and groaned again. Around five minutes later, Tchiko came into the room, to check up on how he was doing. Kaidou was laying there, unable to move, his eyes moving all around the room in immense boredom. Tchiko came over to the bed and spoke.

'Yo Kaidou. So the doctors tell me that you're pretty screwed up – couple of broken ribs, even though your arms and legs are fine. Physically, you should be able to move again in a couple of hours – the medical Nin here are rather good at what they do. Still, you're a total ass for trying to take on that guy! What were you thinking?! These guys aren't your regular ninja; I thought that you would have listened to Chinatsu about that.' Kaidou looked directly at Tchiko. Tchiko knew exactly what he was thinking. 'Yes, I know you thought you could have taken him had you known what he could do, and yes I also know that if you could speak that you'd totally shout at me, and that if you could move you'd beat my ass for lecturing you. Unfortunately for you, you cannot do any of those things, so deal with it. I'm going to let you get some rest, its late already, so I'll talk to you tomorrow.' With that Tchiko left the room, and Kaidou closed his eyes, and feel into a painful and restless sleep.

Tchiko moved out of the hospital ward, and met Chinatsu outside for a drink. The time was actually about half past midnight, and Tchiko was pretty tired, which was shown from the bags under his eyes and the yawn he allowed to escape his lips.

'Tiring day for you, huh?' Chinatsu smiled as she sipped her drink.

'You're telling me. But I had to watch over him after the doctors took him, you know how it is. I'm just tired now. I need a drink.' He signalled to the barman for a double, and turned to Chinatsu. 'So is recruitment all you do?' Chinatsu shook her head. 'Actually, this is the first recruitment mission I've been on, I was pretty nervous about meeting you.'

'Ah, well if I may say so you did a good job. Considering you had to recruit Kaidou, who's had girls chasing after him since he could walk, you've held your cool very well.' He raised his drink to her. 'To many successful years.' She raised hers up and tapped his. 'Indeed.' She smiled at him. 'So tell me about your life.' Tchiko smiled at her. 'You already know everything about my life. What's there to tell?'

'Oh, we know you're the oldest son of Naruki Nasaki, whose wife is Hisa Nasaki. We know she died a few years after giving birth to Shuuji Nasaki, your younger brother, of cancer. Naruki Nasaki became an alcoholic after your mother's death, and you vowed to become a ninja to help your brother from his drunken rages. Nevertheless, your father is a brilliant advisor, and so the Kazekage's cabinet ignores his alcoholism. We know that you yourself inherited your father's brilliance – I've already explained what we know of your achievements. But what I don't know is what you are like as a person, so I suppose I'm just curious to get to know you face to face rather than reading bits of paper.' Tchiko smiled a little, but averted his eyes.

'I suppose really I'm just a standard high working ninja. It's been hard being brilliant – excelling at everything undoubtedly caused problems at the academy – people thought I was cheating. And my personal appearance comes from my father. He was always saying how I was 'so different'; how I would 'never fit in'. So I dyed my hair, pierced my lip, and never looked back. I suppose that showed him.' Tchiko was talking fast and flat, but here, his tone seemed to dip a little, as if when looking back he regretted his actions. Chinatsu noticed, and lightly put her hand on his arm.

'Trust me, I know what you mean. When I was little, I used to be a normal little girl, playing with dolls, you get the idea. But when I was about six I started noticing details, learning things from hearing them once. I have a photographic brain, and it's better than most. For example, I could tell you that outside right now there are four people, three of them are children below five and one of them is a twenty-four to twenty-six year old. The children are wearing red, blue and orange jumpers, and the babysitter is wearing a pink poncho. But my photographic memory meant I passed all the tests one hundred per cent, and I could memorise whole volumes. As such, my range of jutsu became very vast very quickly, and so I was recruited here.' Chinatsu looked away, a little embarrassed. 'I don't know why I'm telling you all this when we have barely met. But there's something about your eyes.' Tchiko smiled at her.

'I'm glad you did. It's nice to know someone in the world understands you, if you see what I mean.' Chinatsu smiled back, knocked back another drink, and took his hand in hers. 'I really do...' She seemed to slip a little in her seat, but her lips moved closer to Tchiko's. He closed his eyes and leaned in...

'As much as I love seeing the two of you getting to know each other, and as much as it amazes me that Tchiko here is actually receiving expressions of interest from a member of the opposite sex, I think that I need to stop this little adventure right here. We aren't here for pleasure, Chinatsu.' Kaidou had gotten out of bed after finding himself unable to sleep, and had stumbled across the bar trying to find something to dull the pain. Chinatsu went pink, and then coughed and wiped her hands neatly on a napkin nearby.

'You are right of course. How terribly unprofessional of me.' Kaidou nodded his forgiveness at her. Tchiko just glared at Kaidou. _I'm going to give you shit for this later_. Kaidou nodded in apparent understanding.

'Now, if you would all get some sleep, it's late, and I could really use a nurse.' Tchiko rolled his eyes and allowed Chinatsu to escort them both to their rooms. Tchiko collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes, and was soon out like a light, thanks to the alcohol that was in his system. A strange pain was emanating from his left arm, but he ignored it, sleep claiming him.

*

It was a new day, and Tchiko regretted it. He opened his eyes, only to be greeted with a hammer blow to his head. He shook his head with remorse. _Far too much drink. And I didn't even score..._He groaned and slowly moved to drink a few glasses of water, the jug and glass mysteriously appearing in his room as well as Kaidou's.

_This sucks. _He looked around, and stumbled out, only to bump into Chinatsu, who had been making her way to his room to wake up him. He caught her eye, but she quickly looked away, and didn't make eye contact while she spoke. Her diction was formal, and caught, not like the free speech he had heard the previous night.

'Good morning Tchiko. The commander has requested an audience with you today. This marks the end of your short stay here. My apologies for not being able to show you the genjutsu chamber like I promised, but something has come up.' Tchiko mumbled back.

'You have my thanks.' He stopped, as if to contemplate whether he should say something else. 'Chinatsu, about –'

'Save it, Tchiko. Now just simply isn't the time.' Chinatsu blushed and pointed towards a domed building.

'The commander resides there. Someone will be along to pick you up soon. My job is done. Maybe I will see you again soon, if you choose to join us. Kaidou's room is to your left. Good day.' Tchiko was left looking helpless, feeling awful, as Chinatsu glided away elegantly. He sighed, and stormed into Kaidou's room. Kaidou looked up, and held up his hands.

'Now, before you go nuts on me bro, you know I only did it for your benefit' But Tchiko hadn't come to yell at Kaidou. He simply collapsed onto the nearby bed and sighed.

'You were probably right' He had a resigned tone of voice 'It would never have worked out. We were too different.' Kaidou looked surprised.

'You really like this girl huh?' Tchiko nodded wearily.

'I dunno Kai, there just seems something so...I can't even think of the word. She has class, she has style, she understands...its almost unique. I'd say the same about you, but let's face it, your class went out the window long ago' He smiled a little at that. Kai coughed.

'Oh sure, you can moan and be remorseful about this girl, but never too early to give me a little insult huh?'

'Well I'd hate to disappoint you by doing anything less' Tchiko groaned and rolled onto the floor, face first. 'Oops.'

Kaidou walked over, picked him up, and looked in his eyes.

'Dude, how the hell do you have a hangover? I mean, you barely drank.'

'Kai, I had two shots. And you know I can't hold the alcohol.' Kaidou grinned, and tapped the side of Tchiko's head. Stars exploded in the front of his eyes and he clutched his head in agony.

'What the heck?! What are you doing?'

'Just giving you a little payback, hehehe' Tchiko groaned.

'Worst. Partner. Ever.'

After they had finished getting ready, Kaidou and Tchiko emerged from their rooms, ready to meet this commander that Chinatsu had mentioned. They found the person who was meant to escort them. Kaidou groaned when he saw who it was.

'Well well, if it isn't the punk. Fancy meeting you here!' Kazuya grinned at Kaidou and Tchiko. Tchiko just rolled his eyes. Kaidou grew red, his voice flat.

'Oh great, they sent the goon squad to escort us.'

'Now, now, ladies, follow me please. No talking, and flash photography is prohibited.' With that Kazuya took off at a fast pace, leaving a startled duo behind him. They ran to catch up. Tchiko tried to strike up conversation.

'So who is this commander of yours anyway?'

'You'll find out. Please, no more questions. I'm bored enough as it is escorting you two women.' Tchiko stiffened.

'Sir, I do believe that this tone of voice is not adequate for the current situation. I mean, if you were looking at two potential recruits, the idea isn't to, oh I don't know, _piss them off as much as is humanly possible_' Kazuya turned his head and laughed.

'I'm barely getting started.' They came to a great archway, and through that, a great door, leading up to the domed building of the commander. 'Right, fortunately for you people, my job ends here. Try to be polite.' Kazuya was gone as quickly as he arrived. Kaidou glanced at Tchiko.

'Ready?' Tchiko nodded.

'Let's do this.' Tchiko pushed the door open, and stepped into the commander's abode...

*

They stepped into yet another domed entrance, Tchiko looking with disbelief at the imagination of the architect. Kaidou just walked straight through, ignoring any signs of craftsmanship. Tchiko just rolled his eyes and strode behind Kaidou. Kaidou kicked open the doors that led to the commander's office, and then stopped in shock as he saw who was in the chair.

'Hey Kai..' A young woman was sitting in a soft leather chair, her feet up on the desk. She had long blonde hair down to the small of her back, and a fringe over one eye, dyed a light blue. She was smiling sheepishly at Kaidou.

'F-Fara! What are you doing here?' Tchiko had by now gotten into the room, and was staring at Farachia Uchiha, commander of this strange force. The same Farachia Uchiha whom Kaidou remembered having long romantic nights with.


End file.
